Singlespeed & Fixed Gear"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

My gf and I are changing her drivetrain and installing a use (by me) Miche cog whose teeth are just beginning to get a little wave-like. My question is: should I put the cog on backwards? For those not familliar with Miche cogs, they come in 2 pieces, see here:

I'm wondering will this give us some more life out of it or will it simply wear throught her chain quicker? will there be other problems I'm not anticipating?

ps. Miche cogs suck and you should avoid them. The amount of play between cog and carrier is ridiculous.

ps. Miche cogs suck and you should avoid them. The amount of play between cog and carrier is ridiculous.

Funny, there is absolutely no detectible play between my Miche cogs and carrier when the lockring is installed. Make sure your lockring is properly tightened with a lockring wrench. You are probably feeling play in the chain, not the cog/carrier interface. I've never considered turning one around backwards, but if it fits onto the carrier backwards (I've never tried) there's no reason not to try it. It would be no different than flipping a chainring to get some more use out of it.

^This doesn't answer my question. My cog and lockring are properly installed. I was just noting how the 0.5mm or so of play between the two produces uncircularity way beyond the tolerances of any other cog. This hasn't been problematic for me, I just find that it introduces an imperfection where there needn't be any.

What I was asking was wether flipping my cog around was a sound way to get more life out of it.

If the cog is worn, its probable that your chain is stretched (worn) as well. A worn chain will probably not run smoothly with the cog flipped, for the same reason a new cog may not run smoothly with a worn chain. If you flip the cog and use a new chain, it will be basically the same as running a new chain and new cog. When you packpedal, you will still be engaging the chain against the worn side of the cog teeth, but I doubt that really matters much unless you regularly ride your bike backwards for miles and miles.

Yes, in theory, flipping your cog will essentially double its life, as long as you replace the chain when you flip it.